I’d meant it as a joke, but his eyes lit up. “Yes, Sofia. Why not? Why don’t you turn me? I’d much rather have you sucking at my neck than this ugly bloke,” he said, shoving Xavier in the shoulder.
I looked at Derek nervously.
“Are you serious?”
“Yes. I’m serious,” he said, staring back. “Vivienne will turn you, and then you’ll turn me.”
My stomach writhed.
“Why doesn’t Vivienne just turn you after me?”
He looked at Vivienne, then back to me. “I just think that it would be more interesting if you turned me.” He raised a brow at me, a small smile curling his lips.
“Actually, what if you can’t be turned? You need to go first, because if you don’t turn, then I can’t turn.”
“Well, let’s see what Ibrahim says,” he replied. “If he says I can be turned, then we’ll take his word for it.”
“But, Derek,” I spluttered. “I’ve never turned anybody before. What if I do something wrong?”
He stared at me for a moment, considering the possibility.
“Well, Xavier and Vivienne will be there to guide you… and haul you off of me if necessary.”
Barely had the hatch of the submarine opened when cheers erupted. I picked up Rose, while Derek carried Ben, and we all climbed out of the submarine.
A small crowd was standing by the port to welcome us. Tears welled in my eyes as I looked around at the familiar faces.
I had to quickly hand Rose over to my father as Shadow was the first to reach us. His tongue wagging, he jumped up at me to lick me, almost knocking me over in the process. He had broken free from Eli, who now came hurrying over with a wide grin on his face.
“I hear you’ve decided to come back over to the dark side again, Sofia.” Claudia smirked and winked at me. “Welcome.”
Zinnia bared her fangs at me and chuckled. Gavin gave me a friendly punch on the shoulder. “Good to have you back, girl.”
“Rose!”
Griffin, their four-year-old son, stepped out from behind Gavin. His curly red hair reminded me so much of his father, while his hazelnut brown eyes were decidedly his mother’s. He made a dash for Rose and wrapped his arms around her, placing a kiss on her cheek. I smiled as Rose blushed.
“Hello Griffin,” she mumbled.
Griffin had been a surprise for Zinnia and Gavin. He’d been conceived while they were travelling and helping Aiden disband the worldwide organization of hunters. Only recently had the couple decided to turn into vampires, once they’d deemed their little human boy old enough to handle the shock of mom and dad sprouting fangs.
It saddened me to think of two vampires who would not be waiting to greet us: Liana and Cameron. Even though it had been years, we still missed their company. They had taken the cure to become humans and left the island. Their children and grandchildren had passed away, but they’d had a burning desire to search out any family living today. They’d told us they would likely return to The Shade after a few years, but we were still waiting for them.
Once we’d finished greeting everyone who’d been waiting at the Port, Derek and I took the twins’ hands and led them toward the forest. But as we were about to enter the woods, something stirred in the trees. A small vampire walked out. Abby.
She looked at me and smiled faintly. Something about her was off.
“Abby!” I said.
She came to us and I put my arms around her, hugging her close. I pulled her away so I could examine her face more closely.
“What’s wrong?” I asked quietly.
A tear rolled down Abby’s cheek and her lip trembled.
“I want to turn back into a human, Sofia,” she said. “I want to grow up.”
I breathed in deeply. I felt the pain in her voice. I’d actually been expecting this day to come sooner. She should be reaching her adolescent years by now, yet she was still trapped in the body of a child.
“We’ll do it, Abby. I promise. We’ll turn you back into a human before this month is over.”
I placed a kiss on her head and she smiled more fully, reassured by my promise. She kissed my cheek and drew away from me, allowing me to continue forward with Derek, Vivienne, Xavier and the twins.
“Sofia! Derek!”
I turned around yet again. Anna walked toward us, her long black hair flowing down her back as she carried her and Kyle’s one-year-old daughter, Ariana, in her arms. Kyle followed closely behind her. I kissed them all and while Anna stayed to talk with me, Kyle walked over to Derek, who started talking animatedly with him.
Ariana reminded me of Rose when she was younger. She was a beautiful child and had similar features–green eyes and dark hair.
“Anna!” Ben shouted. He left Derek’s side and wandered over to us.
Anna beamed and bent down to cuddle him. It warmed my heart to see the special bond the two of them had, and I felt an eternal sense of gratitude. If it wasn’t for Anna’s initiative to take care of Ben when he was still a newborn trapped in Aviary, I doubted I ever would have seen him again.
Rose also skipped over and tugged on Anna’s sleeve.
“Hey Anna and Ariana,” she said, smiling sweetly.
“Hey beautiful.” Anna kissed Rose’s cheeks.
“Sofia,” Anna said, after she’d finished greeting the twins. “Ian left.”
I stared at her. “Already?”
She nodded. “He finally proposed to Katrine about a month ago, and they decided it was time to leave the island and start their new life outside. He was sorry you weren’t here to say goodbye.”
I smiled. Ian and Katrine—one of the human girls who used to live a few doors along from him in the Catacombs—had started seeing each other three years ago.
While I was deeply disappointed that he hadn’t waited to say goodbye to us, I felt nothing but happiness for them. I saw joy in Anna’s eyes too, and an obvious relief. Ian had finally found someone to replace her, and he no longer had to suffer each time he saw her with Kyle.
“Well, I’ll let you go, Sofia,” Anna said. “I’m sure you’ve got lots of work to do settling into your home again. I’ll see you around.”
She kissed me once more and headed off with Kyle and Ariana.
Derek scooped up Ben and placed him on his shoulders. Ben chuckled with delight on being so high up. I took Rose’s hand and kissed her on the nose, which made her giggle.
As we neared the Residences, two more familiar faces came into view. Ashley and Landis—Xavier’s younger brother—were walking toward us, holding hands.
It had taken Ashley two years to finally let Landis in after she had lost Sam in the most brutal way imaginable. But finally, the day had come when she was happy again.
I ran up to Ashley, pulling her into my arms. I kissed her cold pale cheek and whispered, “I missed you so much.”
Tears welled in my eyes as she smiled back at me. I’d grown so used to her smiling only to stop people pitying her. But now she was smiling from her heart. She’d truly found happiness with Landis.
I stayed with Ashley for several more minutes before finally turning away and arriving at the foot of one of the tallest redwood trees on the island, upon which our magnificent penthouse was built. We stepped into the glass elevator and made our way to the top.
Rose and Ben wandered about on the verandah, marveling at the star-strewn sky. We’d made sure to build a high fence around the verandah so that there was no chance of any accidents. Our twins had dangerously adventurous minds and, now that they were becoming independent, it was hard to keep an eye on them sometimes.
Once we’d settled down and finished bringing our luggage up, we left the twins in their playroom with Aiden watching over them and left the house with Vivienne and Xavier.
We headed back through the woods until we reached the clearing outside the witches’ temple. Corrine’s Sanctuary. We knocked on the wooden double doors and Corrine opened them a few moments later.
“Well, hello,” she said, g
rinning. “Come in.”
We followed her along narrow corridors until we reached a circular study lined with shelves of bottled potions.
Ibrahim looked up from his seat at a small table in the corner of the room.
“Welcome back!” He stood up and gave us both a hug.
We took seats around the table, while Corrine sat herself down on Ibrahim’s lap.
“So,” Corrine began, raising an eyebrow and eyeing us closely. “You both really want to turn back again.”
Derek and I exchanged glances before nodding.
“But we need to know what the situation with Derek is,” I said. “Do you think he can be turned back—with his fire powers and all?”
Ibrahim stroked his chin and continued staring at us, deep in thought.
“Well,” he said, “we still don’t know exactly what kind of spell Cora cast on you to give you those powers. But I am quite certain that it won’t interfere with you turning back. You were a vampire before. I don’t see why you can’t be one again.”
I looked at Derek, gripping his hand.
“Well, let’s do this,” he said.
After we returned to our penthouse, we finished unpacking and then spent the rest of the evening with Ben and Rose. This would be the last night we’d spend with them as humans. Derek and I had decided that Vivienne would turn me the next day. Assuming I felt steady enough after the transformation, the plan was for me to turn Derek the same day.
The twins slept cuddled up with us that night in our warm bed. We slept in late the next morning and had breakfast in bed. I cooked up their favorite: hash browns with cheese and tomato sauce.
Aiden arrived at about eleven o’clock in the morning and kept the twins occupied in their playroom while we left. He’d promised to look after them until we were in a fit state to see them again.
Derek and I held hands as we neared the clearing by the Port. Vivienne had suggested that we do the turning here since there was lots of open space and nothing easily destructible for almost a mile radius around us.
As we neared, my unease grew. Knots formed in my stomach. A small crowd had gathered around the clearing, all familiar faces. I gulped as I looked at Vivienne waiting in the center of the clearing, where a wide stone slab had been placed. She smiled at me as I approached her and gave my hand a reassuring squeeze.
“I’ll be gentle with you,” she said.
As gentle as a vampire can be while ripping into a human’s throat.
I remembered the time I’d witnessed Ashley’s turning in the Sanctuary. Kyle had done it. Ashley had writhed around in agony for what felt like hours. There’d been nothing anyone could do to help ease the pain. She had described it afterwards as being a torture so unbearable that you began willing yourself to die.
But I wondered if it was anything near the agony of turning from vampire to human. I shivered, recalling the sensation of the sun roasting me alive. I had done that and survived.
This can’t be worse than that. Nothing can be worse than that.
The crowd was deathly silent as I positioned myself flat on the stone. Derek bent over me and placed a tender kiss on my lips.
“I’m right here with you,” he said. “I’ll be by your side the whole time.”
I gulped and nodded.
My heart began to race as Derek stepped back and Vivienne leant down so that her face was level with mine.
As she brushed the hair away from my neck and bared her fangs, I looked up at Derek once more and locked eyes with him.
That was when it hit me what was truly bothering me about this whole situation.
“Wait!” I gasped, pushing Vivienne away just before she broke skin.
“What?” She frowned at me.
I sat up and rushed over to Derek, taking him by the hand. “I need to have a quick word with Derek first, okay? We’ll be right back.”
Derek looked just as bewildered as Vivienne as I dragged him back into the woods. I walked with him until we were out of view of the others, then stared up at him.
“I want you to turn me, Derek.”
His eyes widened.
“Huh? Why? We already agreed that you would turn me.”
Oh, God. How do I say this?
I paused and felt my cheeks blush crimson. I had to avert my eyes to the ground as I stuttered, “It’s a… fantasy I have. You turning me. Ever since the beginning.”
It was a fantasy that I’d kept hidden deep within my subconscious ever since I’d first met him. I’d always imagined that if I ever turned, he would be the one to do it. I’d never even admitted this to myself until now.
The words sounded so awkward that my face burned with embarrassment.
He reached beneath my chin and pushed it up so I was forced to face him. His intense eyes bored into me.
“What if I have a fantasy about you turning me?” he asked softly.
I couldn’t help but giggle at the seriousness of Derek’s questioning glare.
“Then you’ll be a gentleman and grant your lady her fantasy.”
He frowned at me for a moment, studying me closely. Then he nodded in defeat. “Hm.”
He wrapped an arm around my waist and led me back into the clearing.
“Change of plan, everybody,” he announced. “I’ve decided that I want to turn Sofia. So Vivienne will turn me first.”
Vivienne looked surprised, as did everybody else. But Derek didn’t leave time for questions. He walked straight over to the slab and lay down.
Vivienne looked down at him, frowning. Then she sighed and lowered herself down to her brother’s level.
My heart raced as Vivienne bared her fangs and in one sharp movement dug them into Derek’s neck. I rushed over to the other side of the stone, where I could get a clearer view of Derek. But Xavier gripped my arm and pulled me back.
“We don’t know what state he’ll be in once he’s turned. Best you keep your distance.”
I stepped back to stand with everyone else. Ashley reached for my hand and squeezed it.
“Stop worrying,” she whispered. “Derek’s a warrior. He’ll get through this.”
Her words did little to ease my nerves as Derek began to shake violently.
Vivienne would never harm her brother, but I couldn’t stop my heart palpitations as Derek’s convulsions worsened. By the time Vivienne drew away from him, wiping his blood away from her lips, he was shaking so violently that Xavier and Yuri had to grip his arms to hold him down against the slab.
And then the blood came. Derek began heaving up mouthfuls of it. Ashley’s hold around me tightened as I once again tried to run forward.
“The blood is a good sign, Sofia,” she whispered. “It means that Vivienne’s venom is working.”
I tried to breathe more calmly.
It’s a good sign. It’s a good sign. I repeated the words in my head like a prayer.
Finally, Derek stopped coughing and his body flattened on the stone. Though his hands and feet still twitched, Xavier and Yuri let go of him and stepped away. Ashley’s hold on me also loosened as I relaxed.
His eyes remained shut tight. His body now seemed too still for comfort. Before when he was shaking, at least he was giving obvious signs that he was alive. But now that he lay so deathly still…
Before Ashley could stop me, I broke away from the crowd and ran toward the slab.
Xavier and Yuri whirled around.
“No!” they shouted. “Don’t come so close. Your blood—”
Ashley grabbed me by my midriff and dragged me backward.
“Stop it, Sofia!” she hissed against my ear. “Xavier already told you we don’t know what state he’s going to be in when he wakes up.”
But it was too late.
Derek’s eyes shot open and he sat bolt upright, wiping away the blood from his face with his sleeve.
He turned his head toward my direction and his blazing eyes—now several shades brighter—settled on me.
The lion had smel
t its prey.
Xavier and Yuri hurled themselves at him, but he threw them out of his way with force I’d forgotten Derek ever possessed.
Ashley and Claudia jumped forward to shield me from him, but he brushed them aside too. Grabbing hold of my waist, he flung me over his shoulder and raced into the woods.
“No!” I screamed. “Derek, stop!”
He continued moving forward with frightening speed. Only once I could no longer hear the others chasing after us did he stop beneath the foot of a tree. He lowered me to the ground and, gripping my neck between his strong hands, pushed me back against the tree. Then he placed one hand over my mouth to stifle my scream, using the other to brush the hair away from my neck, giving him clear access. His eyes gleamed with a hunger that made me believe he could suck me dry within minutes.
Oh, no. Not again.
This isn’t happening.
This can’t be happening.
I’d thought that he’d be the same vampire he was just before he turned into a human. I hadn’t thought he’d revert to the uncontrollable bloodsucker he’d been when he’d first woken up after his four-hundred-year sleep. It hadn’t even occurred to me. But now, to my horror, everything about this situation reminded me of that time. The way he had rammed me up against a hard surface, his eyes burning, his cool breath against my skin.
Everything felt identical to the day we’d first met.
What about our children?
I did the only thing I could think to do in the past whenever Derek lost control of himself. I began humming our tune. Even though his hand was placed over my mouth, I hummed it as loudly as possible.
“Silence.” His voice came as a growl. “Your little tune won’t work any more.”
What?
His chest heaving and eyes ablaze, he lowered his head to my throat. I gasped as his fangs scraped against my neck, his cold tongue running along my skin.
I was beginning to lose all hope that I’d be able to get through to him in time when his grip loosened. I felt him step away.
When I opened my eyes, gone was the look of mad bloodlust.
In its place was Derek’s boyish grin.
As soon as my eyes met his, he doubled over and began laughing.